G.M. AndrewsAuburn coach Gene Chizik apparently will lead his team into the Outback Bowl on New Year's Day against a Big Ten opponent.AUBURN -- After 24 hours of furious jockeying for position in a crowded SEC bowl field, Auburn appears to have emerged on top.

The Tigers are headed to the Outback Bowl in Tampa, where they will play a Big Ten opponent on New Year's Day, sources close to the selection told the Press-Register.

The Press-Register and several other media outlets reported the news online early Tuesday, and the bowl was expected to confirm the invitation with a formal announcement Tuesday night. But Outback Bowl spokesman Mike Schulze said late Tuesday that the SEC had requested that bowls not announce their participants until Sunday afternoon.

Auburn's selection was a surprise because the Outback Bowl traditionally picks a team from the SEC East. But when the bowl decided to bypass Tennessee, the Tigers were next in line. Auburn is the first SEC West team selected to play in Tampa since Alabama beat Michigan 17-14 on Jan. 1, 1997, in Gene Stallings' final game as the Crimson Tide's head coach.

The Outback Bowl occupies a coveted spot on Jan. 1, but its time slot is less ideal. The game kicks off at 10 a.m. from Raymond James Stadium, home of the NFL's Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Tigers' Big Ten opponent remains undetermined, although Wisconsin (8-3) is the most likely candidate. The Badgers, who beat Auburn in the Capital One Bowl after the 2005 season, play Saturday at Hawaii.

If it seems like the bowl process is shaking out earlier than usual, it's because an unprecedented number of teams are fighting over the same bowl real estate.

Auburn is one of six SEC teams that finished the season 7-5, meaning all six must fill bowls as high in prestige as the Outback or as low as the Papajohns.com Bowl in Birmingham.

Auburn's selection created a ripple effect for the bowls below it. The Chick-Fil-A Bowl is now expected to pair Tennessee against Virginia Tech, according to the Knoxville News-Sentinel. The Liberty Bowl in Memphis is expected to take Arkansas, while Kentucky will land in the Music City Bowl, according to reports in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette and The Tennessean, respectively.

That leaves Georgia and South Carolina to go to either the Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La., or the Papajohns.com Bowl.

It's unclear what prompted the Outback Bowl to pass on a team from the East for the first time in 13 years. The SEC prefers that bowl spots be allotted on merit, not promises of ticket sales, but that was more difficult this year because of the glut of teams with identical records. Tennessee athletic director Mike Hamilton issued a pointed reminder to media after the Volunteers' final game that ticket sales were not supposed to be used as a determining factor under SEC rules.

Auburn first-year coach Gene Chizik said after Friday's 26-21 loss to Alabama that he was focused on recruiting and would let his administration handle the bowl-selection process.

"We want to give our kids the best opportunity to play in the best bowl they can," Chizik said. "They've earned that and deserve that because it's been a long year."

Auburn has appeared twice in what was originally known as the Hall of Fame Bowl. The Tigers lost to Penn State 43-14 on Jan. 1, 1996, and beat Ohio State 31-14 on Jan. 1, 1990.